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In
November 2001, the American Soybean Association (ASA) released the findings of its
first-ever Conservation Tillage Study, which shows how the availability of soybean seeds
enhanced through biotechnology has allowed and encouraged farmers to implement reduced
tillage practices that protect farmland from wind and rain erosion. The study shows that
73 percent of the growers are now leaving more crop residue on the soil surface than they
did in 1996, when biotech-derived soybeans became available for commercial planting. More
than half the study group credited the introduction of biotechnology-derived Roundup
ReadyŽ Soybeans as the factor that had the greatest impact on their adoption of reduced
tillage practices in soybeans.
“This ASA study quantifies what most soybean farmers
already know,” said ASA President Bart Ruth, a producer from Rising City, Neb.
“Biotechnology gave farmers another tool to control weeds that reduce yields and
lower the quality of our crops, while at the same time, helping us improve our stewardship
of the environment.”
Using traditional methods, farmland many times was plowed
in the fall and must be disked before planting, and then cultivated once or twice during
the growing season to control weeds. While this method helped control weeds, it also left
the ground exposed to wind and rain erosion, which carries soil and agricultural chemicals
into the air and into nearby streams and rivers.
No-till farming means that the ground is not plowed at
all, while reduced tillage means that the ground is disturbed less than it would be with
traditional tillage systems. Under a no-till farming system, soybean seeds for the next
crop are planted right through the organic material that is left over from the previous
crop, which might have been corn, cotton, wheat or some other crop. ASA estimates that
no-till and reduced-till farming is now the preferred planting method on more than 80
percent of all the soybean acres in this country,” Ruth said. “The majority of
growers in ASA’s study said that the Roundup Ready system made possible through
biotechnology was the biggest reason that they have adopted or increased their use of
conservation tillage practices.”
Almost half (48 percent) of the growers in ASA’s
study said that they have increased their no-till soybean acres during the last six
growing seasons (1996-2001). During this period, no-till soybean acres have more than
doubled to 49 percent of total soybean acres, and reduced till acres have increased by
one-fourth, to account for another 33 percent of soybean acres. In the ASA study, 53
percent of the growers said they are making fewer tillage passes in soybeans. Reduced
tillage practices in soybeans saved 247 million tons of irreplaceable topsoil in 2000, and
reduced the number of times a farmer had to run equipment over the field, saving 234
million gallons of fuel.
"This technology reduces my production costs because
I don’t have to drive my equipment over each field as many times,” Ruth said.
“That decreases my labor cost and the wear-and-tear on my equipment. It also lowers
my fuel cost and improves the air quality. And for the first time in modern history, we
have the technology to implement sustainable agricultural practices that are saving the
soil for future generations.”
For its Conservation Tillage Study, ASA hired Doane
Marketing Research, Inc., a local firm that is nationally recognized for their expertise
in conducting agricultural studies involving farmers. Doane studied the farming practices
of 452 farmers in 19 Midwestern and Southern states with quotas established based on each
state’s proportion of soybean acres. Participants with 200 or more soybean acres were
randomly selected from lists maintained by Doane, plus 201 participants were selected at
random from an ASA members list. While the study shows that ASA members were earlier
adopters of conservation tillage practices, by 2001, the tillage practices of non-members
were similar to that of ASA members.
The ASA represents more than 26,000 soybean producers
with affiliate offices in 26 states and 13 international marketing offices around the
globe. “ASA wanted to look at soybean tillage practices in 1996 and compare them to
present day tillage practices,” Ruth said. “As producers, we knew that
biotechnology was improving the way we farm. This study gives us an objective way to
measure these changes, identify the reasons for it, and determine what obstacles may be
keeping some farmers from implementing more conservation tillage on their farms.”
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